Never dig straight down! Minecraft to be used to test artificial intelligence

Never dig straight down! Minecraft to be used to test artificial intelligence

The world of Minecraft is to be opened up for computer scientists and researchers to run artificial intelligence experiments. The game’s owner Microsoft has announced users will be able to try out AI software using its virtual landscapes from July. Microsoft researchers in Cambridge believe Minecraft offers a more sophisticated testing ground than current AI software and is much cheaper than having to build robots. Using Minecraft means a character can endure trial and error – such as falling into rivers and lava pits – without researchers incurring the huge cost of replacing a damaged robot. You can do survival mode, you can do ‘build battles’ with your friends, you can do courses, you can implement our own games. Katja Hoffman In a Microsoft blog, one of the firm’s New York-based…